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Monday, November 9, 2009

Chicken with Morels - Blue Monday

At $28 an ounce, a find like this is worthy of a king's ransom. Morels grow in duff on the forest floor under conifers in some areas of the Pacific Northwest. They are free for the picking on unrestricted property.

Seen through a magnifier or camera lens, the morel looks like a sponge or an aquatic plant. When dried it looks like a small clump of clay with pores.

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I must begin with a disclaimer. This entree is not a standard meal in our home. It comes in at the very high end of what I'm willing to pay for an ordinary family meal. I had seen this Ina Garten recipe floating through cyberspace for several years and this seemed like a great time to try it. I had a lug of free, fresh morels and homemade creme fraiche sitting in the refrigerator. I even had an old bottle of Madeira on a shelf in the pantry. I had no excuse not to make it. The recipe is quite simple and the chicken, while expensive to prepare, sounded delightful. I did make a few changes to the recipe. I, of course, used fresh morels because that's what I had on hand. The dried morels would have produced the same result as the fresh, though I must admit I was surprised at the instruction to discard the water in which the mushrooms soaked. I usually strain that liquid through a coffee filter and freeze it to be used later to enrich soup or stews. It really would be a shame to waste it. I also chose not to clarify the butter. Clarified butter is simply a butter from which milk solids have been removed. I only use it in Indian cooking. The advantage to clarified butter is that it has a higher smoke point and can handle higher temperatures than butter with milk solids. Years ago, I learned that adding oil to butter increases its smoke point and that's what I've done ever since. It's one less step to deal with and one less pot to wash. That works for me! If you don't have shallots, substitute an equal quantity of green onions and you'll be fine. This is a very nice recipe. It is, however, very rich and strongly flavored, so you'll have to be careful about what you serve with it. I served it with steamed rice and snow peas. This would, of course make a fantastic company meal. Here's Ina Garten's recipe.

Directions:1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.2) Carefully lift morels out of water in order to keep grit in soaking liquid. Rinse a few times to assure grit is gone. Strain liquid and save for another use. Dry the morels with paper towels. Set aside.3) Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour and shake off excess. Heat half of butter or butter/oil mixture in a large saute pan. Cook chicken breasts in two batches over medium-low heat until browned on both sides, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove to an ovenproof casserole.4) Add remaining 2 tablespoons of butter or butter/oil combination to pan. Add shallots, morels and garlic. Saute over medium heat for 2 minutes, tossing and stirring constantly. Pour Madeira into pan and reduce liquid by half over high heat, about 2 to 4 minutes. Add creme fraiche, cream, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3⁄4 teaspoon pepper. Boil until mixture starts to thicken, 5 to 10 minutes. Pour sauce over chicken and bake for 12 minutes, or until chicken is heated through. To make ahead, refrigerate chicken and sauce in the casserole and reheat slowly on top of stove. Yield: 6 servings.

54 comments
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Wow! I can honestly say I have never heard of a morel before! Thanks for teaching me something new today! They are very different looking, like they would come from the ocean! Have a great Blue Monday and an awesome week. Sherri : )

I'm afraid I will have to admire your chicken with morels recipe from afar. I can't imagine spending that much for mushrooms (I envy your getting them for free!!) The photo looks absolutely delicious!!

I will most definitely keep this recipe to hand because we have morels pop up on our property every so often. The first time we found them we were surprised to have such a rich bounty on OUR little piece of land....now we really anticipate them.

BTW, my paternal Grandmother was named Murrell, a misspelling of the fungus delicacy...

What a divine meal! I love, love, love Ina. I lined up for hours a couple of years ago to meet her. She is even more beautiful in person than on tv. I have never had a morel before - I can't wait to try them one day - the chicken with morels sounds like the perfect way to have them.

That was a fascinating lesson about morels, Mary. And that dish looks like something I would absolutely love. I thought of you yesterday when I had the most delicious salmon I've ever eaten which was fixed with a garlic cream sauce that I would love to have. The steamed vegetables were cooked to perfection, too, and seasoned perfectly. It was such a good meal. This, though, would have topped that one! Thanks for sharing...

This looks wonderful! We have a cabin in Northern Michigan and we pick morels on a regular basis. I grew up with them as the everyday mushroom we used in meals. LOL We have them and beefstake mushrooms growing like crazy around the woods of our cabin.

You know, this looks beautiful and tasty! I love mushrooms but have never tried these lovely morels. I can't recall having them offered to me or even on a menu.I will be on the look out in Denver for this specialty.

Interesting dish ;-)I've not heard of a morel before, but now that you've made me 'aware' ... I'm sure I will in the future! Thanks for visiting and hope you're having a delightful day!Hugs and blessings,

So was it worth it? Well, I guess since the morels are free, then yes. I, too, have seen the Ina Garten recipe floating around the interwebs for years. I guess ordinary mushrooms just wouldn't taste the same?

Mary,This recipe would be a nice one for company! When I lived in Dubai I learned about clarified butter or Gee as it was also called. To answer your question I’ve been back in the States for several years now. However, I’m always open to another great adventure. Happy Blue Monday.Cathy

Mary -- That's a delicious looking recipe -- so glad I stopped by today. If only we had fresh morilles. They have such a wonderful, earthy flavor. I'm a bit surprised she didn't reduce the cooking liquid (which I love as a moistener in a mushroom-bread stuffing) but that would tend to darken the sauce. This most definitely provides more than one perfect bite! Thanks for coming over to sample my soup.

YUMMY MARY!!!!When I lived in Vancouver, I did eat morels. I really like them. Love the blue picture & the "up close and personal" view of a morel.It belongs in the sea.Happy Blue MondayLove Claudiexoxoxo

Joey, our morel season began late - normally late May and June - so they started to come to market much later than usual. We also have a range of elevations here and morels are available in the high country until we have a freeze.

Mary, every time I see something gorgeous and luscious-looking on one of the food porn sites and want to get the recipe, I click and - lo and behold - 3 times out of 4 it's yours! Why am I no longer surprised! This dish looks fabulous and I have so wanted to cook with morels. I can get a small package of the dried for under 10€, not bad, so maybe I'll surprise husband with this amazing dish!

How did I miss this post, until now?I used to think morels were ugly, therefore I wasn't about to try them-- until I went to a swanky party and had them. I was hooked.I am having company this weekend, and maybe I won't use morels (cost-wise) but the sauce sounds so fabulous that I might snoop around and see what I could substitute.I'm a huge fan of Ina Garten, so I can almost taste the flavors. Wow. How lucky for you to have fresh morels.

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